Thailand as a Small State: Historical Transformation of Political Identity

The article analyzes the reasons of political identity transformation, which Siam/Thailand had undergone throughout the second half of the XIX and the first half of the 20th centuries. Once being a major state entity in the Indochina peninsular after colonial division of Southeast Asia Thailand had to modernize radically its internal political sphere and to assume the role of a “small state” in its foreign policy. Based on the historical evidence the article argues that this transformation helped Thailand to survive and retain its formal independence from the colonial powers but at the same time it implanted historical traumas and resentments in the social consciousness. Among these traumas the factor of “territorial losses” still plays a crucially important role.

Keywords

Thailand, “small state”, colonial policy, politics of memory, territorial disputes, political identity, nationalism, Southeast Asia

Received

05.07.2020

Publication date

14.12.2020

Number of characters

35790

Cite

GOST	Koldunova E. Thailand as a “Small” State: Historical Transformation of Political Identity // ISTORIYA – 2020. – V. 11. – Issue 12 (98). Part I [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840010435-7-1 (circulation date: 24.07.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840010435-7
MLA	Koldunova, Ekaterina "Thailand as a “Small” State: Historical Transformation of Political Identity." ISTORIYA 11.12-1 (98) (2020) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840010435-7
APA	Koldunova E. (2020). Thailand as a “Small” State: Historical Transformation of Political Identity. ISTORIYA 11(12-1 (98)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840010435-7

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